My Organic Life : How a Pioneering Chef Helped Shape the Way We Eat Today

"A wonderfully engaging memoir from the woman who founded Restaurant Nora, America's first certified organic restaurant--the natural foods pioneer who, earlier than anyone else, made it her mission to bring organic foods to the American table. The current proliferation of organic food and farm-to-table cuisine owes its existence to this mostly unheralded, groundbreaking woman who changed the way we eat as few others have. Growing up on a farm in the Alps, she was surrounded by fresh food--delicious produce and meats that had never been touched by artificial pesticides or hormones. When she and her husband moved to the United States in the 1960s, she was horrified to discover a food culture dominated by hormone-bloated meat and unseasonal vegetables. The distance between good, healthy produce and what even the top restaurants were serving was enormous. Determined to make a difference, first as a teacher and then as the country's premiere organic restaurateur, she charted a path that forever changed our relationship with what we eat. Spanning the last forty years of our culinary history, My Organic Life gives us the remarkable life of a little-known hero of the organic revolution"--;Amuse bouche -- Tyrol -- Vienna -- European travels -- Coming to America -- Dinner parties -- Tabard Inn -- Restaurant Nora -- City Cafe and Asia Nora -- The first certified organic restaurant -- Digestif. A wonderfully engaging memoir from the woman who founded America's first certified organic restaurant, My Organic Life is the story of an unheralded culinary pioneer who made it her mission to bring delicious, wholesome foods to the American table. While growing up on a farm in the Austrian Alps and later in Vienna, Nora Pouillon was surrounded by fresh and delicious foods. So when she and her French husband moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1960s, she was horrified to discover a culinary culture dominated by hormone-bloated meat and unseasonal vegetables. The distance between good, healthy produce and what even the top restaurants were serving was vast, and Nora was determined to bridge that gap. First as a cooking teacher, then as a restaurant owner, and eventually as the country's premier organic restaurateur, she charted a path that forever changed our relationship with what we eat. Since it opened in 1979, her eponymous restaurant has been a hot spot for reporters, celebrities, and politicians—from Jimmy Carter to the Obamas—alike. Along the way, Nora redefined what food could be, forging close relationships with local producers and launching initiatives to take the organic movement mainstream. As much the story of America's postwar culinary history as it is a memoir, My Organic Life encompasses the birth of the farm-to-table movement, the proliferation of greenmarkets across the country, and the evolution of the chef into social advocate. Spanning the last forty years of our relationship with food, My Organic Life is the deeply personal, powerfully felt story of the organic revolution—by the unlikely heroine at its forefront. "A wonderfully engaging memoir from the woman who founded Restaurant Nora, America's first certified organic restaurant--the natural foods pioneer who, earlier than anyone else, made it her mission to bring organic foods to the American table. The current proliferation of organic food and farm-to-table cuisine owes its existence to this mostly unheralded, groundbreaking woman who changed the way we eat as few others have. Growing up on a farm in the Alps, she was surrounded by fresh food--delicious produce and meats that had never been touched by artificial pesticides or hormones. When she and her husband moved to the United States in the 1960s, she was horrified to discover a food culture dominated by hormone-bloated meat and unseasonal vegetables. The distance between good, healthy produce and what even the top restaurants were serving was enormous. Determined to make a difference, first as a teacher and then as the country's premiere organic restaurateur, she charted a path that forever changed our relationship with what we eat. Spanning the last forty years of our culinary history, My Organic Life gives us the remarkable life of a little-known hero of the organic revolution"-- Provided by publisher